BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 1408
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|AUTHOR: |Allen |
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|VERSION: |April 18, 2016 |
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|HEARING DATE: |April 27, 2016 | | |
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|CONSULTANT: |Reyes Diaz |
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SUBJECT : Tissue donation
SUMMARY : Allows for the transplantation of any tissues into the body of
a person when the donor of the tissues is found reactive for
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as specified, and removes
penalties for tissue donors who are reactive to HIV, as
specified.
Existing law:
1)Prohibits the transfer of any tissues, as defined, into the
body of another person by means of transplantation, unless the
donor of the tissues has been screened and found nonreactive
for evidence of infection with HIV, agents of viral hepatitis
(HBV and HCV), human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV), and
syphilis, except as provided.
2)Authorizes the transplantation of tissue from a donor who has
not been tested for specified infectious diseases or, with the
exception of HIV and HTLV, has been found reactive, if
specified conditions are satisfied, including obtaining
consent from an intended recipient or the recipient's family.
Defines "family" as a spouse, adult son or daughter, either
parent, adult brother or sister, or grandparent.
This bill:
1)Allows for the transplantation of any tissues into the body of
a person when the donor of the tissues is found reactive for
HIV, if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
a) The physician and surgeon performing the
transplantation has determined any one or more of the
following: i) without the transplantation, the
intended recipient will most likely die during the
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period of time necessary to obtain other tissue or to
conduct required tests; ii) the intended recipient
already is diagnosed with the infectious disease for
which the donor has tested positive; or iii) the
symptoms from the infectious disease for which the
donor has tested positive will most likely not appear
during the intended recipient's likely lifespan after
transplantation with the tissue or may be treated
prophylactically if they do appear; and,
b) Consent for the use of the tissue has been
obtained from the recipient, if possible, or if not
possible, from a member of the recipient's family or
the recipient's legal guardian.
2)Removes specified penalties for the donation of blood, body
organs, or other tissues by a person who knows that he or she
has tested reactive to HIV, or for a person afflicted with any
contagious, infectious, or communicable disease who willfully
exposes himself or herself to another person, for sperm
donors, as specified, and donors included in 1) above.
FISCAL
EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1)Author's statement. According to the author, this bill would
greatly improve the life expectancies of people living with
HIV who need organ or tissue transplants by removing
California's prohibition on donating organs or tissue while
HIV-positive. Under current state law, it is illegal for an
HIV-positive person to donate organs or tissues under any
circumstance. This existing law was enacted nearly 20 years
ago at a time when very little was known about HIV and AIDS.
Research made possible by the passage of the federal HIV Organ
Policy Equity (HOPE) Act of 2013 found that organ donations
from HIV-positive donors to HIV-positive recipients do not
have a detrimental effect. Major advances in the treatment of
HIV and AIDS mean that HIV-positive individuals are living
longer, and like other older Americans, they too are
developing medical conditions that require organ transplants.
However, the number of individuals in need of organ
transplants far exceeds the availability of healthy organs.
Increasing the number of eligible organ and tissue donors for
HIV-positive individuals will save lives.
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2)Background. On November 21, 2013, President Obama issued a
statement that announced he signed the bipartisan-supported
HOPE Act, which allowed for scientists to carry out research
into organ donations from one person with HIV to another. As
noted in the statement, such organ transplants were deemed
illegal for decades. However, with growing effective
treatments for HIV and by signing the HOPE Act, successful
life-saving organ donations for people living with HIV could
eventually be realized. On November 22, 2013, Donate Life
California issued a statement applauding the President's
signing of the HOPE Act, stating that the change in policy had
the potential to save 1,000 HIV-infected transplant patients
each year, as well as shortening the list for uninfected
people awaiting transplants.
A March 30, 2016, article in the Los Angeles Times announced
the first organ transplantation from a deceased HIV-positive
donor to two HIV-positive recipients, performed by surgeons at
Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. Physicians involved
with the transplantation believe that many HIV-infected donors
are likely healthy enough to donate an organ without great
risk to their health. Also noted in the article is the
expectation that each year 500 to 600 HIV-positive people will
die under circumstances that would make their organs available
for transplant, which has the potential to make hundreds and
potentially thousands of transplantable organs available each
year to HIV-infected people with end-stage diseases of the
kidneys, heart, liver, and lungs.
3)Support. The sponsors and other supporters argue that this
bill will bring state law into conformity with federal law,
ending a policy that was enacted at a time when very little
was known about HIV and AIDS. Supporters argue that with
advances in HIV understanding and treatment, HIV-positive
individuals are living longer and developing medical
conditions later in life for which organ transplants are the
standard of care treatment. Supporters state that this bill
will help alleviate waiting times on donor lists for all
people awaiting organ transplants, and that studies have shown
that transplants from one HIV-positive person to another do
not have a detrimental effect nor negatively affect patient
outcomes.
4)Technical amendment. On page 6, line 6, strike out "of"
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SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: AIDS Project Los Angeles (cosponsor)
Equality California (cosponsor)
Los Angeles LGBT Center (cosponsor)
Positive Women's Network-USA (cosponsor)
Access Support Network of San Luis Obispo and Monterey
Counties
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
Health Officers Association of California
Lambda Legal
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Two individuals
Oppose: None received
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